{"id":459985,"date":"2026-10-08T09:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T09:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/459985\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T09:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T09:56:12","slug":"students-return-to-battle-hall-as-renovations-near-completion-the-daily-texan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/459985\/","title":{"rendered":"Students return to Battle Hall as renovations near completion \u2013 The Daily Texan"},"content":{"rendered":"

After more than five years of renovations, Battle Hall reopened to the public this August. Students can now return to the space while final renovations are completed and archival collections are returned to the library.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since 2021, the building has undergone renovations to update its mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems while restoring the roof, windows and ironwork.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were making do with a lot of stuff, but now we\u2019re actually moving into an era of really having the best kind of environment and the best kinds of ways to highlight our collections and our spaces,\u201d said Katie Pierce Meyer, head of Architectural Collections at the University of Texas Libraries.<\/p>\n

Final renovations are continuing while Battle Hall is open to the public, including the installation of a publicly accessible elevator and new thermostats. More than 150 archival collections, some possibly dating to the 16th century, are being moved back into Battle Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty soon, we hope to have everything back over here for people to browse and look at,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cI\u2019m happy that we\u2019ve been able to provide some continuity of our services and our collections throughout the renovation and project, but it\u2019ll be really nice to have everything back over here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the University renamed<\/a> the library in Battle Hall to the John S. Chase Architecture and Planning Library. The change was made to honor John S. Chase, the School of Architecture\u2019s first Black graduate and Texas\u2019s first licensed Black architect. A dedication ceremony to celebrate the new name will take place later this fall, along with an exhibition highlighting both the building and Chase\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

A $5 million gift from Tony Chase, John\u2019s son, and Tony\u2019s wife, Dina Al-Sowayel, will support the library and School of Architecture\u2019s future plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always important to me that my dad\u2019s life was unique and meaningful and impactful,\u201d Tony said. \u201cIt just made sense to me that I\u2019d do anything I needed to do in order to make sure that his legacy was remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meyer said no future updates to the library are finalized, but she would like to see money put toward expanding services and supporting students\u2019 research.<\/p>\n

Students are already making use of the reopened library in Battle Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really captures the collegiate, old feeling of locking in,\u201d senior theater and dance major Juno Adair said. \u201cI can lock in better when I\u2019m in a beautiful academic place.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After more than five years of renovations, Battle Hall reopened to the public this August. Students can now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-459985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}